Background: A community based case study on the situation of elderly people who are above 60 years of age living in rural areas, mainly with respect to their financial capability to withstand healthcare needs has been undertaken in this work.
Method: Primary cross sectional data from the elderly people belonging to Sumi tribe living in rural areas of Nagaland, located at the North Eastern region of India generated during 2017 has been used in this present study. A statistical descriptive financial status and security for healthcare financing from household use perspective has been emphasized in our study.
Findings: This present case study on the tribal elderly people living in rural areas of Nagaland in India observed a serious concern for healthcare financing arising from inadequate regular income and savings accentuated by the absence of efficient provision of geriatric healthcare services. Majority of the elderly people in rural Nagaland who are dependent on agriculture and old age pensions for income are faced with a situation of declining income and in general among those negatively affected are the very old ones above 80 years, elderly women and widowed elderly.
Application/Improvements: Declining of income and savings among the rural elderly has an adverse negative impact on healthcare in particular and wellbeing in general. Steps to improve the economic status of the rural elderly through improvement in providing sufficient and efficient income distribution is advisable and at the same time healthcare can be greatly improved if easily accessible, affordable and geriatric friendly healthcare services can be made possible at the primary and community healthcare centers.